Book Launch & Celebration with Zach Vertin

A Rope from the Sky: The Making and Unmaking of the World’s Newest State

A conversation with Zach Vertin, moderated by Glenn Raucher

Q&A and book signing to follow

January 17th, 7:00pm

Retro Report
633 Third Ave, 16th Floor
New York, NY 10017

A remarkable chronicle of America’s attempt to help forge a nation from scratch, from euphoric birth to heart-wrenching collapse.

South Sudan’s historic independence was celebrated around the world—a triumph for global justice and a signal that one of the world’s most devastating wars was finally over. The new Republic’s birth was acclaimed not only by its long-oppressed people, but by three U.S. presidents and the legions of Americans who championed their cause. But the party would not last long; South Sudan’s freedom-fighters soon plunged their new nation back into chaos, shattering the promise of liberation and exposing the hubris of their Western backers.

Drawing on extraordinary personal stories of identity, liberation, and survival, A Rope from the Sky tells an epic story of paradise won and then lost. Zach Vertin’s firsthand accounts bring readers on an extraordinary journey into the rise and fall of the world’s newest state. South Sudan’s untold story is a unique episode in global history—an unprecedented experiment in international state-building, and a cautionary tale. A Rope from the Sky is propelled by characters both inspired and ordinary―their aspirations are matched by insecurities, their sins by courage and kindness. It is first a story of hope, power, greed, compassion, and conscience-shocking violence from the world’s most neglected patch of territory. But it is also a story about the best and worst of America―both its big-hearted ideals and its difficult reckoning with the limits of American power in a changing global landscape.

“An important read.” —JOHN KERRY, 68th U.S. Secretary of State, author of Every Day is Extra

“An essential guide to one of the world's most intractable conflicts—a must-read for warriors, diplomats, relief experts, and would-be peace negotiators anywhere in the world.”—JON LEE ANDERSON, Staff Writer, The New Yorker

GLENN RAUCHER BIO

Glenn Raucher’s many years of Arts’ Administration leadership include being the Literary Arts Director at The West Side YMCA Writer’s Voice; nearly nine years as Director of Theater Operations at The Film Society of Lincoln Center; Managing Director at The Hudson Valley Writers’ Center; and General Manager of The Quad Cinema. He led the Film Society theaters during the multi-million dollar expansion from one classic venue, The Walter Reade Theater, to multiple venues and multi-use spaces with the opening of The Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center in 2011.

Born in Spring Valley, New York, and raised on Long Island, Glenn received a B.S. in Communications from Ithaca College, where he was both Music Director and Program Director of the award-winning, 5,000-watt radio station, WICB-FM. He received a minor in writing, founded a student poetry group that held readings at the college’s Mueller Chapel, and was a Featured Poet at the Ithaca College School of Arts & Humanities 50th Anniversary Celebration, in April, 2007.

* PLEASE NOTE: THERE IS LIMITED SPACE FOR THIS EVENT. ALL ATTENDEES MUST REGISTER NO LATER THAN 3PM WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16, TO BE INCLUDED ON THE GUEST LIST.